WASHINGTON – Sylvia Douglas twice voted for President Barack Obama and last year cast a ballot for Democrat Hillary Clinton. But when it comes to “Obamacare,” she now sounds like President-elect Donald Trump. This makes her chuckle amid the serious choices she faces every month between groceries, electricity and paying a health insurance bill that has jumped by nearly $400.
“It’s a universal thing, nobody likes it,” Douglas, a licensed practical nurse in Huntsville, Alabama, said of Obama’s signature law. “They need to fix it with whatever works, but not make more of a mess like they have now.”
That Americans agree on much of anything is remarkable after a presidential race that ripped open the nation’s economic, political and cultural divisions. But on the brink of the Trump presidency, a new poll finds ample accord across those divisions on the need to do something about health care in the United States.
More than 4 in 10 Republicans, Democrats and independents say health care is a top issue facing the country, The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll showed. That’s more than named any other issue in the survey, conducted Dec. 14-19.
But there seems to be little agreement on what to do about it.
Democrats say they want to fix problems in the current program – among them, rising costs and dwindling competition – but not dismantle it. They warn that the GOP is threatening the coverage gained by 20 million people under the 2010 overhaul.
Republicans want to repeal Obama’s signature law but fear the political damage of stranding millions of Americans who secured coverage. Congress’ nonpartisan budget analyst lent weight to that concern Tuesday, estimating that a bill passed in 2016 to only repeal – not replace – the law would result in 18 million more uninsured people and a spike in premiums.
Trump says he has a plan, but so far he’s given no details. He told The Washington Post last weekend that his approach would provide “insurance for everybody.”
Congressional Republicans say the revamp will offer “universal access” to coverage, not quite the same thing
The desire to fix Obamacare stretches across party lines, but some are skeptical it can be done.
“It can’t be made to work,” said James Gemind, a 55-year-old restaurant worker from Orlando, Florida. “That’s why both sides have been unanimous in their agreement that it has to be repealed or replaced. Part of it is funding; it just does not exist to insure everybody.”
HHS nominee wants dialogue on health care
WASHINGTON – Offering reassurances, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary said Wednesday the new administration won’t “pull the rug out” from those covered by “Obamacare.” Democrats were unimpressed, noting a lack of specifics.
Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., also told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that Trump is “absolutely not” planning to launch an overhaul of Medicare as he tries to revamp coverage under President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. He acknowledged that high prescription drug costs are a problem, but did not endorse the idea of government directly negotiating prices.
Throughout the nearly four-hour hearing, Democrats peppered Price with questions about his stock trades. The sometimes confusing exchanges involved different transactions under distinct circumstances. Price, who has signed a government ethics agreement to sell his stock, was clearly annoyed by the suggestion that he profited from his official position. “I’m offended by that insinuation,” he told Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Price said he wants to reopen a bipartisan dialogue on health care centered on practical solutions.
“One of my goals in this entire debate is to lower the temperature,” said Price, speaking in even, measured tones. “People need to know that no rug is going to be pulled out from under them.”
